Yeh for the first step of just knowing you need to deal with it all.
We are not really supposed to go into herbal stuff much here but I can tell you what dietary things I did.
First a warning, my T was pretty low and the dietary changes drove it so low I was living what PMS feels like for a while. That I cannot recommend.
Here's what I did:
added a couple of tablespoons of whole ground flax seed to my cereal each morning. Flax contains Ligands which can lower the bodies production of T in studies. Otherwise flax is very healthful in general.
Drank peppermint tea instead of or in addition to my regular coffee. Both spearmint and peppermint can low T production.
Took saw palmetto capsules. Another warning here. Although saw palmetto is sold as just a regular dietary supplement is has activity in the body similar to finasteride and duteraside. For some it may be an issue. For me it did not have any depressive feelings although at first I was gassy from taking it.
I lost a ton of muscle mass quickly using these but like I said, my hormones must have bottomed out. Every little thing seemed like the end of the world to me emotionally. I started adding a menapause supplement and that seemed to level me out some. That supplement was full of plant phytoestrogens. I can say it was nothing like the feeling I got from the first estradiol tablet I had dissolve in my mouth once I got on HRT. During this time my slight gynocamastia kicked in big time and I began experiencing breast tissue growth. I wasn't sure what it was at first but the aching increased for some time. I had slight gynocamastia before, so I suppose I had already been in the "prepubescent budding stage" before I ever started diet or HRT.
I waited three months plus for my therapist to write my HRT recommendation letter and to get an appointment with an endocrinologist in St Louis. It was a difficult wait full of hope and disappointment. Eventually I got there. With my T so low, even that first low dose of estradiol that dissolved in my cheek made a difference. I was driving home from the pharmacy and about 30 min after putting that tablet in my mouth I felt this lifting of my sense of wellbeing. It was this background anxiety that I didn't even realize was there just lifting off of my mind. I noticed I was smiling and did not have a reason why. To me that was profound.
